Johndave Week 2016
by Slippery Tummy
Summary: These are my chapters for Johndave week 2016. It lasts from July fourth to July 10th, and I have a chapter for each day. If you enjoy my thoughtful rendition of a canon interaction, AUs, Confession, hurt/comfort or Davesprite's bonus day, check it out!


Day one of JohnDave week, 2016:

-Favorite Canon interaction. (Act 1) John: Answer chum.)

Dave ran a hand through his hair, then grimaced. That's right, he couldn't do that since he'd started adding gel to it. So, with a sigh, the thirteen year old walked to the sink and rinsed it off. He glanced at himself in the mirror. Even under his dark shades, Dave could notice the bruise on his arm. Despite the pain, he was a little relieved. A strife yesterday meant he didn't have to deal with it today. Of course, he had other things to worry about.

A certain Lalonde had been bothering him all day about some game they had to play. Between Jade's cryptic ramblings, TT's incessant (yet grandiloquent) messages, and John's birthday, it seemed like the world was forcing him to play this. So, he already had his copy, much like Rose, and Jade's was coming soon. The only person that didn't have theirs out of the little friend group was John, and that was due to some stupid baking complications.

Still, he couldn't penalize his best friend. After all, he really hated those cakes, and it was his birthday. Unfortunately, Rose had been talking to him all day, insisting that he play this game with her. Honestly, the game didn't look that fun. The promise of 'making a new universe' seemed like a ridiculous goal, considering that it was all in game and they couldn't do anything with it in real life, to his understanding. That, and Game bro completely dissed it. Despite the fact that John didn't respect the magazine's opinions, Dave did, and if they could tell a game was awful without even playing it, it wasn't worth his time.

John was the only one that seemed exceptionally excited about it, and Dave hoped he could get him to play it with Rose, so he wouldn't have to deal with her whining. In fact, he should probably start convincing him now- her whines were getting annoying. Granted, she whined with four syllable words that had a poetic quality, but they were still whines. So, he decided he'd just use his computer to message John, and began.

turntechGodhead (TG) began pestering ectoBiologist (EB).

TG: is it there

TG: plz say yes

TG: maybe you can play with TT, she's been pestering me all day about it.

TG: she's mackin on me so hard all the time i start to feel embarrassed for her

TG: i mean not that i can blame her or anything

Dave waited for a few seconds, and thankfully, John's reply came. He may have been busy doing birthday stuff, but it was still nice to talk to him on his special day. After all, you only turn thirteen once, unless you time traveled or something.

EB: yes, it is understandable because you are really attractive. i am attracted to you.

Dave read his words and blinked. What did he just say? This was probably some joke, or something. Still, it made his face heat up in a way the sun in Texas couldn't, and Dave felt embarrassed about not keeping his poker face up. Then again, it was hard not to. They'd tried out Skype a few weeks ago, and since then, Dave had an image in his mind when he thought about John Egbert. They were still thirteen, but Dave was a little surprised by his appearance. He always expected John to wear bow ties, and have ridiculously neat hair.

What he got was a normal kid, with giant sapphire like eyes and a ridiculously happy bucktoothed smile. His everything was messy and wrinkled, and he looked like the most excited person in the world when he talked to Dave. The memory made Dave want to smile when he thought about it, but he forced his lips back into their usual impassive position. He was attractive too, in his own ultimate dork way. Of course, Dave liked the way his friend looked, a lot. So he liked it when John said he was attractive too. Dave knew that already- he did get some of the coolest genes in the world, and was probably the coolest thirteen year old on the planet. John still didn't know his eyes were red, because he wore the sunglasses he gave him on the call.

Dave had been wearing them daily since he received the gift from John. They were a cool pair of aviators, if he did say so himself, and he appreciated the gift a lot. Maybe it was because he had some other way to be different from his older brother now. He thought his older brother was the coolest person in the world, but Dave like the idea of developing his own interests and life.

So, while his older brother ran the world's largest porn company, he strived to be different. Of course, he still wanted to be successful, like him. However, Dave wanted to do it in a way that didn't make him a carbon copy of his older brother. So, when he got those shades he appreciated them, a lot. Plus, they were from John Egbert, his best friend. Call him impressionable, but if John Egbert said he looked attractive with the shades he wore every day, Dave's desire to wear them only increased. Actually, the compliment just made him appreciate his new (5 months old?) sunglasses more.

The thing was, John didn't just say he was attractive. That statement was well enough within the bro zone, and while Dave would have liked to read into it, he knew he was attractive, and probably couldn't. In fact, if that was all he said, he wouldn't even be having this line of thoughts in his head. Of course, John said more. John said he was 'attracted to him'. And if that didn't make Dave's cheeks burn and heart speed up a little, he didn't know what would. Because holy shit, his aesthetically pleasing (cute) nerd of a best friend said he was attracted to him.

He already admitted John was attractive, maybe even more so, to him at least, than Jade and Rose. It probably factored in the close, personal relationship they shared. Still, John, of all his friends, said he was attracted to Dave. Dave Strider. If Rose said it, he'd take it for more of their teasing half flirt half fight things they did, as friends. If Jade said it, he would have thanked her and smiled fondly, but probably not taken it too seriously. After all, Jade was the nicest of his friends, and her constant outpour of kindness seemed almost inhuman.

The thing was, none of those friends said it. John Egbert said it. The words made his head feel funny and his heart race, and Dave already knew why. He was his best friend, and Dave cared about John more than anyone else, even Bro. Not that he would let himself admit he cared about Bro, because being gushy for no reason was not cool with his older brother. Dave agreed with the philosophy- why be gushy when you could be tall, dark, mysterious and awesome? Of course, he kept trying to make the theory apply with John, but he found himself unable.

Dave already figured out that he liked John. It was a day after he realized he would see his friend, webcam to webcam, for the first time. They talked about it, agreed on a day, and did it. He thought about how excited he was when he realized he could find out what his best friend looked like that night, and instantly, he knew. He went through approximately five minutes of denial before realizing that it was true. Yeah, he liked John. He really liked John, in a 'like like' way. He never knew when to tell him about it, and wasn't sure when his feelings would fade. He hoped they didn't, and yet he hoped they did.

Dave loved joking with John, or entertaining (boring) him with his raps. He liked it when he'd wake up and see blue text, or hear a buzz before falling asleep and know he was saying goodnight, after fifty times on both ends, just to get the last word. He liked that his best friend thought he was cool, even when he felt like nothing more than an unskilled, unsuccessful copy of his older brother. He like that John knew when he was upset, even when Rose of all people couldn't tell. He liked when he would scream for hours after he heard something stupid about an awful movie. He pretended not to like it when John ranted about Nic Cage, but Dave found it the slightest bit endearing.

To put it shortly, this sunglasses wearing, early puberty, technically- a- teen boy was head over heels for his best friend in the world, who just admitted he was attracted to him. Either that, or this was the start of some joke that John couldn't understand wasn't funny. Which reminded him, he needed to hurry up and respond to John.

Unfortunately, the boy did not know how he would respond. Would 'I'm attracted to you too' suffice? Because even at thirteen, Dave realized he was. He was attracted to his friend too. Heck, he wasn't sure if that was a joke, or an admission, or something else. Still, Dave found himself wishing it could be an admission. He wanted it to be an invitation, from his best friend on his birthday, so Dave could accept. Dave wanted to be cool, and dashing, and maybe, possibly end up doing date type things with John, despite the fact that he lived so far away.

But if this was just a joke, he could have embarrassed himself horribly. Dave didn't want to mess up their awesome friendship, and couldn't bare the idea of losing John over a misunderstanding. Still, that sounded as much like a confession could sound, while still being causal, and Dave didn't know if John was joking. So he needed a response that didn't sound like a rejection, because he couldn't ever reject John when he liked him too. Well, John had given him a compliment. So, just in case he really was just joking, he responded the way he did.

TG: thank you

Dave held his breath as he waited for John's response. Was that too harsh, or not enough? The boy couldn't tell if he should elaborate, or not. So, he waited. And Dave felt like he waited for hours, but in reality, it may have been a minute, at the most.

EB: jk haha.

EB: no, i don't have it yet.

Dave's shoulders dropped. He was joking. Well, he couldn't allow himself to look upset, but he was definitely upset. To think, that he thought John was actually into him seemed laughable now. After all, his friend had a clear, open policy of not being a homosexual. Dave was just being stupid the entire time. He hoped his feelings would fade away soon, because it was clear they were unrequited. He sighed, and continued their conversation in dismay. Then again, Dave should have known not to get his hopes up anyway. He and John were best friends, and it was clear that was all they'd ever be.

John pushed away from his computer with an irritated sigh. That was a stupid attempt, and he knew it. Well, he apparently had other things to do with this sylladex of his anyway. Still, he should have known Dave wouldn't go for the idea. His friend was the essence of cool, and being even the slightest bit bisexual clearly wasn't an option. He saw how he flirted with both Rose and Jade, and how they responded to having his attentions on them. Of course, and Dave's closest friend, Dave naturally gave John more prevalence, but still. That was no reason to assume that he'd ever returned his feelings.

And John couldn't have been more clear with what he said, meaning that his simple 'thank you' of a response was a kind way of implying no. Or worse, Dave couldn't even consider that the words were anything other than a friendly compliment, because of how platonically he viewed the boy. Either way, Dave seemed more than willing to forget he ever said anything, and John was more than okay with following his example. So, he'd been rejected on his birthday. Well, not outright rejected, but clearly not accepted. If you felt the same way about someone, you didn't respond to it with 'thank you', and John knew it. He just hoped his stupid feelings would fade eventually.

So what if John felt himself grin when he talked to Dave, or always wanted to be the last person he spoke to at night? It certainly didn't matter that Dave was the coolest person he knew. The boy definitely didn't care that when he knew he made him laugh, it was like he'd scored some wonderful accomplishment. It wasn't relevant that Dave was ridiculously attractive, and would show some parts of himself that he kept hidden from everyone to John. He didn't feel touched that Dave wore the sunglasses John gave him, and he had no intention of hugging his birthday present from Dave tonight.

None of that mattered, because Dave didn't feel the same way. He had no reason to, but it still hurt. So, John played it off. He played off the fact that he'd been dying with anxiety, even temporarily ignoring Dave on his birthday in an attempt to delay his confession. Still, he did it, just like he promised himself he would, and as expected, Dave didn't feel the same. John didn't know why he even considered something different happening. Dave, the cool kid who got all of the ladies lacked romantic interest in him, and he never would feel the same.

With that settled, John still felt upset, but he had better things to do than just mope about his feelings. Granted, he wanted to, but he was thirteen now. He needed to get over it, and start doing what Dave suggested, with his sylladex. So, he put the arms and the cake together. It worked, and John sighed. Of course it worked, Dave told him to do it. The boy shook his head. He could feel upset about his expected, unrequited feelings later. For now, he had a game to play, and if it could take his mind off Dave, he was more than ready to give it a try.

Hey, guys! So this is my first story for Johndave week 2016, which lasts from July 4th to the 8th, or 10th if you include the bonus days like me. So, this ended on a sad note, but don't worry about it. Well, there's my favorite canon interaction (and I had to search for this), but with more thoughts. I didn't change a word of the pester logs, but they were way near the beginning, when nothing made sense, but no one was dying. (Seriously though, how did I ever miss a thirteen year old John saying 'I'm attracted to you', then laughing it off in the awkwardest way possible? Did anyone else miss this scene?)

Honestly, I'm really enjoying the beginnings of Homestuck, now that it's ended. I mean, the times when Rose was killing pogo imps with pianos and throwing bathtubs through the wall, but somehow she remained the smartest one on the team were crazy, but no one really remembered them. I miss the days when they were thirteen and no one was dying, because if you re-read it, the pester logs are funnier since you understand what's going on, and it's really just a bunch of kids who are awful at a videogame trying to figure things out. That said, I would whole-heartedly recommend a re-read through acts 1-3, considering A, they're the shortest, and B, they're ridiculously funny since you understand what's going on now. Really, Homestuck progressed the way any video game would, where things aren't as good or easy to understand in the beginning, because you're still figuring out how it works, but as you near the end the mechanics get easier and you end up enjoying more. So, kudos to Andrew Hussie for this lovely comic.

Thanks as always for reading, reviewing, or just viewing the story. I'll see you guys tomorrow for day two, with an AU!

((Also, you can find the info for JohnDave week at johndaveweek on tumblr. That's the blog title, just type it in on mobile or add the and . for computers.)


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